Google to present its star witness, the company's CEO, in landmark monopoly trial
NPR Online NewsOCT 14 2023
A US federal judge Monday called Google "a monopolist," ruling that it has violated the US antitrust law and that its anticompetitive behavior needs to be stopped.A US federal judge on Monday called Google "a monopolist," ruling that the tech giant has violated US antitrust law and that its online search dominance "has led to anticompetitive behavior that must be stopped."
District Court of Columbia Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had "violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act” in monopolizing the search and ad markets.Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Google had "violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act" in monopolizing the search and advertising markets.
In what is being viewed as one of US's largest antitrust decisions in decades, Mehta also reportedly described Google’s search engine as superior to rivals'.In what is being viewed as one of America's largest antitrust decisions in decades, Mehta also said that default distribution contracts with smartphone makers such as Apple "gave Google anticompetitive advantage over its rivals."
Google's monopoly in search and advertising stifles competition and harms small businesses, making it imperative to dismantle it. Given its staggering market share of nearly 95% in search and 75% in online video, small businesses often findpay themselves paying for Google Ads that deliver questionable results, plagued by bots and inflated metrics. BreakingThis upruling Googlewill wouldfoster competition in the industry, ultimately benefitbenefiting consumers and the economy.
Monday's antitrust ruling unfairly dubs Google a monopoly, ignoring the reality of intense competition in the search engine market. With over 30 search engines, including Yahoo! and Bing, and platforms like Amazon and TikTok vying for search traffic, Google’'s dominance is due to consumer preference, not anti-competitive practices. The claim that Google controls 90% of web searches overlooks the fact that users can easily choose other search engines.